Dave Mustaine

Dave Mustaine is the lead singer and guitarist of Heavy Metal band Megadeth. He was born in La Mesa, California in 1961. Before spawning Megadeth, he was one of the founding members of Metallica, but was forced to leave the band because of his problems with alcohol abuse, as well as crack cocaine.

After he was found driving under the influence and after a recent accident for which he had risked the ability to play guitar, Mustaine decided in 2002 to convert to Christianity and has since been an advocate of family values. However, he remains critical of authorities such as the United States government and the United Nations. His lyrics are characterized by an aggressive temper, especially toward authority figures. In recent years, Megadeth's lyrical output has dwelled on political themes.

Mustaine professed his Christian faith in the song Shadow of Death from the 2003 album The System Has Failed. The song starts off with the lyric "Auxilium meum a Domino" which is Latin for "My help comes from the Lord", the lyrics then contains a direct reading of Psalm 23.

He expresses clearly his ideas toward the United Nations in the song United Abominations off the album of the same title:

"Within striking distance from Ground Zero sits a smoldering international cauldron, the "United Abominations" as it were. Born to prevent wars, it froze in the face of disaster and stood silent while terrorization took hostage the world. In a mire Hypocrisy, the UN ignores sex crimes by its "blue helmets", and enable terrorism: so in the end it's failed and the UN is where our "so-called" friends get to stab us in the back and we pay 22% of their tab to host our enemies here at home. Ambassadors from countries otherwise known as a catastrophe, enjoy diplomatic immunity living in Manhattan, while their children are turned into prostitutes, It's a complete and utter disgrace, a blot on the face of humanity, and they get away with it!"

He is also very critical of Iraq war and U.S. intervention abroad, e.g. in the same song as above:

I fear to undo the failings in Iraq, Iran, and Korea

You may bury the bodies

But you can't bury the crimes only

Fools stand up and really lay down their arms

He also reveals his beliefs on dictatorships in the song Symphony of Destruction, which many see as a metaphor of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.